HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1990-09-26, Page 22ErfiOsit or
SINCE 11160, SERVING THE COMMUNITY FIRST
incorporating
The Etrwwls Post
Published In
ieeforth, Oratorio
Every Wednesday Morning
1040.
M1 11711111 11. OrawNrl M.a..sr
TilT0101 ar111. Aatt.rtiaa.g iiiessogor
NIATTOIR 11011111011. &dhow
NIWS RAN: Samoa Oxford
a.nasiesaas.
ACCOUNTING: Pet Armee
Dionne McSr.th
LIMA. Put linen
Mend).. Canadian Caawasailla tlawtpaSr Ass.,
On ow w Conwrwnttr Narrap.- AardaMM
Ontario Ness Coenclt
Cowttwnw.dth Mess torn
internalised Press Institute
tobacription Ades
Canada '22 00 a year w+ advence
Senior Citizens • '19.00 o year on Wawa,
Outsnd. Canada '65.00 o year. M advance
Single Coyotes - .60 cents each
l.�ond (fuss moll r.Slst►otwn Nw,.bet 06%
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 3, 1990
Editorial and ivalsNs tineas - 10 Main Str..t. $..north
T.1.phoa. (31) 127-0240 h: 127-2131
Mailing Address - P.O. Ilea OIL lataToortbk. Ontario. Mone IWO
A moment of your time
Regardless of size, or geographical location, each of us resides
in a small "community". Whether you commute to the downtown
core of a huge metropolis, or work the fields in a rural setting, the
lives of Ontario residents revolve around a smaller, close-knit,
inner community in which family life is focused.
Our responsibility, as the media voice for this area, is to keep
you informed about what is happening in the community each
week.. news and sports stories provide our readers with infor-
mation about local people and events; and the advertisements
within these pages provide readers with information about
products, promotions and entertainment being offered by local
merchants.
The most important element of any small community is the
people who live in it. You community newspaper tracks their lives
from the first breath: birth announcements, Grade Four spelling
bee winner, Girl Guide Gold Cord, minor league hockey cham-
pion, graduation, engagement, wedding, career advancement,
new bususiness venture, occasional setbacks, tragic accident,
disastrous plant closing, new industry in town, impact of last
week's decision by local council on taxes, and so on.
Throughout your entire life, the community's newspaper is
there, monitoring and reporting the ups and downs of the
community and its citizens.
There's a lot of bad news these days. As a group your com-
munity newspapers decided to do something about the situation.
In 1981, the Ontario Community Newspapers Association
created a program designed to recognize the achievements
and/or personal courage of a very important group of young
people within the small community. Each year 275 community
newspapers within OCNA, with financial support from Canadian
Airlines International, appeal to their respective communities for
nominations of youngsters aged six to 18 years.
Every nominee receives a certificate and up to 12 individuals
and one group are the recipients of an award presented by the
Lieutenant Governor at the annual OCNA convention.
The selection of the "Ontario Junior Citizens" is incredibly
difficult...because every single nominee is a credit to their
community, and to us all.
Many saved lives. Many organized community activities which
paid enormous dividends for fellow citizens. Many battled
tremendous physical handicaps, or terminal illnesses in exemplary
manner, helping to ease the pain and suffering of others.
They are all heroes in their own right. They serve as outstan-
ding examples of how life in a small community should be lived.
They merit the recognition the community newspapers of Ontario
are prepared to give them.
They deserve your support.
We ask for a moment of your time. Do you know a young
person who might quatfiy for this type of recognition? Contact this
newspaper for a nomination form.
Help us to say `thanks" to some youngster who deserves it.
More information is included on the nomination form, and we'll be
happy to answer any questions you might have.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Recycling is overdue
Dear Editor:
Thank you for the write up in
your paper three weeks ago concer-
ning the blue boxes and keeping
glass separated from cans in McKil-
lop Township. It does make it
easier sorting for us and lots of
places have pails or bag of glass
out at the curb with their blue box.
More important of course is to
thank those who are being so
responsive. One lady even com-
mented "i wish 1 could do more". it
is great to hear people are that
interested in getting recycling run-
ning as smoothly as possible. After
all it's for all our benefit.
It's time Seaforth got settled into
a full scale recycling program
because whether it's with blue
boxes or white pails the people are
just as responsive as in McKillop. I
know already of two garbage
contractors who have expressed to
the town they are ready to accom-
modate the picking up of
recyclables. So how much more
information do they need. We al-
ready know it's good for the en-
vironment.
Sincerely
Gerald W. Nobel
Nobel Sanitation.
Dealer appreciates
Dear Editor:
One Sunday recently, my wife
and 1 were driving an a back road
near Clinton, and experienced car
trouble. A local farm family (the
Cokloughs) kindly attempted to
retain emergency road service,
unsuccessfully. The finally called a
Mr. John Hart of Hart Ford,
Seaforth.
Mr. Han took as in his vehicle in
search of a repair source. Failing
kindness
that, he Loaned us a car, refusing
any suggestion of payment or
security. We were then able to
complete our trip to visit with our
children.
The kindness shown to complete
strangers by our country neighbours
was heartwarming and deeply ap-
preciated. We wanted others to
know shout it.
Yours sincerely,
Marilyn and Neville Lefcoc
Breaking up is truly hard to do
l'm back.
Afta nearly five months of po-
gig my way through the days,
I've sax again taken up rt udence
belund a desk at The Huron Ex -
pomace. And believe me, a tx LVA -
laud y
er-
tainly different. (For one thing -
this ume 1 fit!)
As any woman who has ever had
to leave thou child knows, it's trot
an easy feat. In addition to being
emotionally draining, it's a
physically exhausting process as
well. Suddenly there is a time
constraint on the start of my day.
There's twice as much to do, and
understandably not enough time to
do it all in - no matter how or-
ganized you are.
Despite the fact I allot myself
twice as much time to get up and
out in the morning, it's almost
guaranteed that I'm still going to be
late. No matter what 1 do to prepare
for all that will need doing 1 can't
scan to get it done. Despite such
inventions as the alarm clock,
instant breakfasts and the unmade
SWEATSOCKS
by Heather Robinet
bed, there's a lutle girl who knows
nothing of thecae things. She has no
idea about deadlines, and absolutely
no into nouns whatsoever of conf x -
ming to a schedule - especially if
it's not hear own
As lung ab Rebecca gets fed,
bathed and changed with some
regularity, she's quite content. She
doesn't want ha wakcup call at 7
a.m., her bath time cut to five
minutes, and her eating time con-
futed to 15. In fact, she doesn't
want a wake up call at all and
would much prefer a more leisurely
entrance to the day (why now
instead of four months ago?) And
that there arc the long, uninter-
rupted intervals of play and cud-
dling, that both of us enjoy - but
just don't have time for at this
paniculw puuit ui time.
Well, as much as 1 tried to break
it to her gently, things at the
Robinet housed this past Mon-
day, were a trifle different for
Rcbocca (and for mom). In fact,
there may have even been a tntle
rushed. While Rebecca was soil
given ha due where cuddling and
feeding etc. came into play, she
traversed a good deal more of the
house than she usually would in
those early hours of the morning, as
cuddling and eating time doubled
up with bottle packing and the like.
To the average observer 1 must
have appeared a dizzying example
of the typical feu -armed mother as
I rushed to and fro, tot cradled on
my hips, and all sorts of other, non-
human materials clasped by
whatever spare body parts I could
)pare. 1 found out I really can chew
gum and talk at the an dine.
Then finally 1 was ready.
Armed with a tires page
chronicle of matrucuona, and with a
bag of extra diapers and clothing,
food enough to feed baby for a
month, spare bottlers, thermanaer
and appropriate baby -type drugs
use to case) :rung over one
, another filled with toys
tossed over the other, and baby
buggy, baby reclining seat, blankets
and sleeping bag hugged close to
my form, 1 prepared to take baby to
the sitter. And once baby was
loaded into the car, 1 was on.
closing in on that moment I'd boon
dreading all summer - leaving baby
behind.
But despite all my apprehensions,
1 coped - and fairly well 1 thought.
1 managed to stifle my tears until 1
was ALONE in the car, not at all
helped by the fact that baby ap-
peared to make the transition
wonderfully. 1 just hope she'll make
the re -transition as easily.
How long before it is five o'clock
anyways?
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday
Thanksgiving is my favourite
holiday. I love the food, the com-
pany and being together and sharing
these two things.
Unfortunately, my family is scat-
tered throughout North America.
My parents live in California and
I've not been able to have
Thanksgiving with them for years.
Their Thanksgiving Day isn't even
the same day as ours is. The
American Thanksgiving is closer to
Christmas, and after consideration
of this, I've come to the conclusion
that ours is celebrated at a better
time. Imagine being an American
woman and having to cook and
entertain for Thanksgiving,
Christmas and New Year's in such
a short time span.
In recent past years I've held
Thanksgiving at my house for my
friends and they tell me they had a
great time. I go all out. Large bird,
JUST THINKING
by Susan Oxford
different pies and wines, candles
and such good times. Last year
many of them came to my house in
Seaforth for the weekend. We
remember having dinner and from
my dining room window watching
the year's first snow fall.
I prefer Thanksgiving to
Christmas because there are no gifts
exchanged. Some members of my
family treat Christmas gift giving
like a potlatch and expect more
lavish gifts every year. 1 can't stand
receiving an expensive gift and
actually can feel very uncomfor-
table about it.
Lately I've been giving magazine
subscriptions to my family in the
United States. They were probably
a little shocked when on Christmas
Day all they got from me was a
card containing news about a new
magazine coming their way, but
over the years they've told me how
much they like getting a gift from
me month by month.
In a laundromat somewhere in Los
Angeles my father found a copy of
Canadian Geographic magazine and
saw a picture of a woman in St.
Pierre and Miquelon he swears
looked like me. I told him it wasn't
me, I haven't been there yet. He put
the bug in ear he wants his Satur-
day Night magazine cancelled this
year and Canadian Geographic
instead. No problem.
Thanksgiving is a chance to enjoy
a feast in the autumn and have fun
with the people around me with no
strings attached. This year I'm
going to Tottenham to have
Thanksgiving with my grandfather.
He's been invited to California
many times but won't go because
he's terrified of flying, something
he's never done. He drives a car
like Batman's and it could get him
to L.A. in a matter of minutes, but
he won't do that because he's afraid
somewhere along the way
someone's going to stop his super-
sonic speed car and mug him. So
I'm going to go and see him
instead. He'll worry about me
driving that 'long distance', but 1
know I probably won't see another
soul driving along Highway 89 on
Thanksgiving Day.
We're on the right track
What is sustainable agriculture?
The "Green Plan for Ontario" of
July, 1990, defines it as "being
those food systems that are
economically viable and meet
society's need for safe nutritious
food while at the same time conser-
ving or enhancing the quality of the
environment for future generations".
The OFA has described it as "an
approach whereby production is
measured by the average level of
output which is economically viable
and can be continued over a period
of time without depleting the
renewable resource on which it
depends".
Remeniber the boom years of the
sixties and seventies when the
researchers were flexing their new-
found grants and bringing forth new
ways of maximizing agricultural
yields.
The key words were "expand" and
"growth". Bankers encouraged us to
increase our loans, specialize, tear
down fences and buy mare acres.
Government nt advisors promoted the
multitude of commercial fertilizers
and pesticides that came on the
market
RURAL ROOTS Lir
by Jeanne Kirkby k;.k-Oj.
Plant genetics research brought
new varieties of seed that grew
more bushels to the acre, while
advances in machinery made it
possible for one farmer to handle
larger acreage. Animal genetics
gave us a new awareness of
nutritional requirements which
meant we could produce more meat
on less land by feeding less food of
higher quality.
As we quickly climbed aboard the
bandwagon of progress, the farms
became bigger, the farm population
decreased and agricultural produc-
tion was on a roil. We were going
to feed the world'
Then some people begin to notice
that this new way of farming was
bringing some unnerving changes to
rivers, the depth of the topsoil and
the general environment
in 1974, Norman Alexander was
a000inted Drainage Commissioner
for Hulled Township. Early in his
job, he was called to the land of a
Huron County fanner whose topsoil
was leaving his fiends at such a rate
that he was considering trucking in
more. Norm investigated and soon
discovered that the problem
stemmed from the continuous row
cropping of corn on a neighbour's
property. At this point, he felt
despair as he realized the potential
destructiveness of some agricultural
practices then in vogue.
By chance, his wife, Helen was
browsing at a u.sed book sale in
Windsor about this time and for a
quarter, she picked up a tattered
volume of an outdated book for him
called "Conservation in Ontario".
He was delighted to receive it but
at the one time felt dismayed to
learn that conservation information
had always been available, but it
was as though Ontario agriculture
had forgotten all they knew about
the care of the soil.
This awareness made him devote
the rest of his life toward promoting
conservation practices, educating
the public in ways of erosion
prevention and water management,
and travelling all over Canada and
the USA to explore ideas and share
his vision of an improved environ-
ment for future generations.
He made many airplane flights
over problem areas in Huron county
assembling materials for a slide
presentation on examples of erosion
and different methods tried to cor-
rect these pro lems. Then he built
a large scale model on a boat trailer
frame to show Soil and Water
Management situations, causes and
possible remedies. Most of us
remember seeing this exhibit at
Plowing Matches, Farm Shows and
Conventions, but for the local
school children and other com-
munity groups he established a
Foodland S tc wa 'dship Centre at
Londesborough.
The thrust of his message was
that continuous row crooning and
Turn tnpage 7•